The present invention relates to materials used in furniture manufacturing and building construction, and more particularly, to a bamboo tile presenting a natural bamboo-like appearance for covering a structure wall and the method for manufacturing the same.
Bamboo has been extensively used so far, especially in the manufacturing of a wide variety of products in forming either a structural part or an exotic external finish thereof.
More recently, bamboo tiles were developed using slabs of bamboo machined out from sections of natural bamboo stems. These slabs, as those illustrated in European Patent No. EP 0 864 020 B1 issued to Simon et al. on Sep. 16, 1998, form at least two layers in the construction of the tiles and are positioned in a staggered relationship relative to the adjacent ones by taking into consideration the density of the wood fibers and the associated bending stresses built-in the raw product. Each of these slabs is faced out and machined on all surfaces to all have the same generally rectangular cross-section and same dimensions. They are assembled side by side in a random fashion since they are essentially identical to the others in shape and fiber density. In other words, all slabs are interchangeable.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,644 issued to Sanaee et al. on Nov. 2, 1999 also discloses bamboo slabs with squared edges used in the fabrication of bamboo articles made out of a plurality of layers of slabs such as veneers, boards and the like.
By using squared slabs of bamboo as shown in the prior art, it is not possible to render the natural aspect of the bamboo stem external surface on a tile, since part of the stem is wasted during the facing, or squaring process, of the slabs. Adjacent slabs are therefore not a continuity of each other, as required to fully represent the bamboo stem external surface.
The fact that the natural aspect of the bamboo is preserved, the thickness of a same xe2x80x9cnaturalxe2x80x9d slab usually varies through its length and width, and the thickness of the external layer of a tile, made out of a plurality of xe2x80x9cnaturalxe2x80x9d slabs positioned in a parallel relationship relative to each other, continuously varies in any planar direction. These non-uniform thicknesses of the different decorative tiles are not proper for their side-by-side positioning on a structure wall or the like since they would generate discontinuities at their mutual interfaces that would not be eye-attractive for the arrangement of the decorative tiles.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a bamboo tile that obviates the above-mentioned disadvantages.
An advantage of the present invention is that the bamboo tile provides a preserved natural aspect of the bamboo with nice external appearance that can be mounted in a side-by-side arrangement with similar tiles even though its thickness is not uniform over its entire surface.
A further advantage of the present invention is that the manufacturing of the bamboo tile significantly reduces the amount of bamboo waste.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that the bamboo tile is relatively simple to manufacture compared to existing bamboo tile products.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the bamboo tile can be produced in various shapes and dimensions to suit a wide variety of applications, from covering furniture surfaces to building wall and even ceiling and the like.
Furthermore, the proposed bamboo tile can be easily mounted on the supporting structure without requiring special tooling or manual dexterity.
Still furthermore, the proposed bamboo tile can easily be tinted or varnished according to the need of the specific arrangement.
According to an aspect, the present invention consists of a bamboo tile for covering a structure wall and presenting a natural surface texture of a longitudinal section of a bamboo stem with at least one node, the section defining generally cylindrical outside and inside surfaces and a generally central axis, the section being axially split into a plurality of sequential and adjacent generally elongated sectors, each sector having a generally parallelepiped-shaped configuration and defining a sector first main surface, a sector second main surface, a sector first auxiliary surface, an opposed sector second auxiliary surface, a sector first side surface, an opposed sector second side surface and a sector longitudinal axis, the bamboo tile comprises:
a first layer defining opposed generally planar internal and external surfaces, the first layer being formed by the elongated sectors sequentially disposed in generally parallel relationship relative to each other with the sector first auxiliary surface of each sector being in abutment contact with the sector second auxiliary surface of an adjacent sector, the external surface being formed by the sector first main surfaces of the sectors positioned to integrally reproduce the natural texture of the outside cylindrical surface of the bamboo stem section developed into the generally planar external surface, each of the sectors defining at least one through bore extending from the sector first auxiliary surface to the sector second auxiliary surface, the through bores of the adjacent sectors being substantially in register with each other
a retaining wire inserted into the through bores of the successive sectors to maintain the sectors in the sequential relationship relative to each other so as to allow the generally planar external surface to integrally reproduce the natural texture of the outside cylindrical surface of the bamboo stem section developed thereinto.
Typically, the tile further includes:
a second layer bonded on the internal surface of the first layer, the second layer supporting the first layer so as to rigidify the bamboo tile, the first and second layers defining common peripheral surfaces; and
a chamfer extending between the external surface of the first layer and one of the peripheral surfaces.
Conveniently, the chamfer extends between the external surface of the first layer and two of the peripheral surfaces, opposed to each other.
Preferably, the chamfer extends between the external surface of the first layer and the peripheral surfaces.
Conveniently, each sector defines a sector thickness between the sector first main surface and the sector second main surface, the sector thickness continuously varying along the peripheral surfaces of the bamboo tile.
Conveniently, each sector defining a sector width between the sector first auxiliary surface and the sector second auxiliary surface, the sector width varying between about 1 mm and about 10 mm, preferably between about 2 mm and about 5 mm.
Preferably, the bamboo tile has a generally square-shaped or rectangle-shaped configuration.
According to another aspect, the present invention consists of a method for manufacturing a bamboo tile for covering a structure wall, the bamboo tile presenting a natural surface texture of a longitudinal section of a bamboo stem with at least one node, the section defining generally cylindrical outside and inside surfaces and a generally central axis, the method minimizes the amount of bamboo waste and comprises the steps of:
a) axially splitting the section into a plurality of sequential and adjacent generally elongated sectors, each sector having a generally parallelepiped-shaped configuration and defining a sector first main surface, a sector second main surface, a sector first auxiliary surface, an opposed sector second auxiliary surface, a sector first side surface, an opposed sector second side surface and a sector longitudinal axis;
b) sequentially disposing the elongated sectors in parallel relationship relative to each other with the sector first auxiliary surface of each sector being in abutment contact with the sector second auxiliary surface of art adjacent sector to form a tile first layer, the first layer defining opposed generally planar internal and external surfaces, the external surface being formed by the sector first main surfaces of the sectors positioned to integrally reproduce the natural texture of the outside cylindrical surface of the bamboo stem section developed into the generally planar external surface;
c) bonding the internal surface of the first layer on a tile second layer, the second layer supporting the first layer so as to rigidify the bamboo tile, the first and second layers defining common peripheral surfaces; and
d) making a chamfer between the external surface of the first layer and one of the peripheral surfaces.
Preferably, the step d) includes making a chamfer between the external surface of the first layer and the peripheral surfaces.
Preferably, each of the sectors defines at least one through bore extending from the sector first auxiliary surface to the sector second auxiliary surface, the through bores of the adjacent sectors being substantially in register with each other, the step b) comprises the steps of:
b1) inserting a retaining wire through the through bores of the successive sectors to maintain the sectors in the sequential relationship relative to each other;
b2) axially splitting each elongated sector into a plurality of sequential and adjacent generally elongated sub-sectors, each sub-sector having a generally parallelepiped-shaped configuration and defining a sub-sector first main surface, a sub-sector second main surface, a sub-sector first auxiliary surface, an opposed sub-sector second auxiliary surface, a sub-sector first side surface and an opposed sub-sector second side surface, the sub-sectors being maintained in sequential and substantially parallel relationship relative to each other by the retaining wire; and
b3) sequentially disposing the elongated sub-sectors in parallel relationship relative to each other with the sub-sector first auxiliary surface of each sub-sector being in abutment contact with the sub-sector second auxiliary surface of an adjacent sub-sector to form the tile first layer, the external surface being formed by the sub-sector first main surfaces of the sub-sectors positioned to integrally reproduce the natural texture of the outside cylindrical surface of the bamboo stem section developed into the generally planar external surface.
Preferably, the step c) includes facing the internal surface of the first layer so as to ensure a generally flat internal surface prior to bonding the internal surface of the first layer on a tile second layer.
Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of:
e) sanding and/or drying the bamboo tile.
f) finishing the first layer external surface of the bamboo tile by applying tinting and/or varnishing agent thereon.
Conveniently, the step a) includes facing out the node on the sector first main surface of each elongated sector so as to render the sector first main surface substantially flat.
Conveniently, the step c) includes trimming the peripheral surfaces of the tile to the required dimensions thereof.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided herein, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.